Character from Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Rachel Weintraub grown backward through time — the woman who fought beside Kassad in temporal battle simulations and walked among the Time Tombs wearing a silver suit that bends causality.
Moneta is the temporal paradox at the heart of Hyperion's structure. She is Rachel Weintraub — Sol's daughter, the archaeologist who aged backward after touching the Time Tombs. Sol handed infant Rachel to the Shrike. The Shrike sent her backward through time. She grew — in reverse-time — into the woman Kassad met during combat simulations across history. She appeared to Kassad at Agincourt, at Gettysburg, in future battles. They fought together and loved in the aftermath of violence. She is connected to the Shrike — possibly its guardian, possibly its conscience, possibly a different aspect of whatever temporal force the Time Tombs represent. Her name comes from the Keats poem — like everything in the Cantos, the literary references are load-bearing. She is the bridge between Sol's Scholar's Tale (a father's sacrifice) and Kassad's Soldier's Tale (a warrior's love), connecting two pilgrims' stories across time.
A woman in a quicksilver environmental suit that reflects and refracts time. Her face shifts between ages depending on when you're observing her — sometimes young, sometimes ancient, always recognizable to Kassad. The suit makes her look like a living mirror.
Also known as: Moneta, Rachel Weintraub, The Woman in Silver